Campus Watch: Below is a summary of campus activity reported to or observed by The University Police Department Patrol Officers between Monday, 04/13/15 and Tuesday, 04/14/15. ***Tax Season is Scam Season**** Recently, the UT Police Department, as well as other police agencies, has taken calls from people regarding tax scams. That being said, allow me to highlight two of the more popular scams. The first is based on a simple deception and the scam artist preying upon people’s fear of being arrested. In this scam, a person clones an area police department’s telephone number and calls the victim. The caller then states he or she is with that police department and that the victim owes money (usually back taxes) and threatens arrest if the victim does not make an immediate payment with a pre-paid debit card over the phone. The caller will actually remain on the phone while you go to a store and purchase a debit card then he or she will ask for the account number on the activated card. If you receive a call similar to this, simply tell the caller you will make contact with the entity claiming you owe money – in this example, the Internal Revenue Service – and hang up. Trust me if you owe any taxes, the IRS will be more than happy to let you know how much you owe when you call them. Another scam seen during Tax Season involves the scammer using your personal identifying number to file a tax claim before you get a chance to do so. You typically discover this scam when your tax return submission is declined due a file already being submitted. While difficult to do, prevention is the key with this one. There are several companies out there that provide identity protection. Short of such measures, protecting your identifying information is of the utmost importance. An identity thief can procure enough identifying information to file a claim in your name from a variety of sources. Hacking your electronic devices is one method someone can obtain your identifying information. While you may have the best fire walls, anti-virus software and passwords on planet earth, you can’t say the same for all of the businesses, doctor’s offices, academic institutions, financial entities and employers you have previously provided your personal identifying information. Whenever I have cause to provide my driver’s license number, social security number and / or my name and date of birth, I always ask how the information is stored, how it is used by the entity collecting it, who has access to that information, how long they keep the information and how they dispose of the information when they no longer need it. If I don’t like any of the answers I get back, I take my business elsewhere. But I digress, if you have fallen victim to this type of identity theft, contact the IRS, the Credit Bureau and your local police department. JESTER WEST, 201 East 21st Street Criminal Mischief: An unknown subject propelled a brick through a 1st floor exterior window to an office located on the south side of the dormitory. It did not appear as if entry was made into the office. Repair cost: $200.00. Reported on 04/14/15 at 1:10 AM. 300 West 24th Street Criminal Mischief: A UT student reported an unknown subject applied a clear bonding agent to the ignition keyhole of his Kawasaki motorcycle while the motorcycle was parked in the motorcycle parking spaces on the north side of the Union Building. The bonding agent prevented the student from inserting the key into the ignition. Repair cost: $150.00. Reported on 04/14/15 at 2:18 AM. 2500 San Antonio Driving While Intoxicated: A non-UT subject was observed driving a silver colored Honda at a rate much faster than other vehicles he was passing. Before being stopped, the subject was observed driving through a parking lot to avoid a red light intersection. When the officer activated the patrol car’s emergency lights to initiate a traffic stop, the subject sped off and nearly struck a pedestrian before coming to a stop in a near-by parking lot. The subject seemed “surprised” he was being stopped. That surprise faded as the officer developed probable cause to believe the subject had been driving while intoxicated. Occurred on 04/13/15 at 8:56 PM. The University of Texas Police Department responded to 27 Alarm Reports, 4 Suspicious Activity Reports, 2 Accidental Damage Reports, 2 Welfare Concern Reports, 2 Public Assist Requests, 8 Traffic Violations, 2 Motor Vehicle Collisions and 1 Unsecured Door Report between 04/13/15 and 04/14/15. Prepared by: Ofc. WR π/ To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit http://www.utexas.edu/police/campuswatch/subscribe.php/
